Star Trek: Into Darkness – Teaser Trailer Announcement

I remember the days before the internet when you found out about a movie by seeing a poster in the Evening Standard newspaper or while travelling on the Tube (subway for you non UK folk). Nowadays we now get teasers for the teaser trailer! This is a phenomenon that seems to be peculiar to blockbuster and event movies. I cannot recall a similar campaign for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, for example. Anyway, here is the first initial peek at Star Trek: Into Darkness, JJ Abrams follow-up to his 2009 reboot. The trailer follows the standard formula for such promotions, right down to the tiresome tonal audio punctuation. I’m not implying that the movie will be bad. On the contrary, I have high hopes. It’s just that there’s precious little creativity in marketing these days. Mind you, it can be argued that such a franchise markets itself.

Then there is the Japanese version of the same trailer which contains extra footage and one particular scene that will definitely resonate with Star Trek fans. I not going to discuss my pet theory but it certainly adds fuel to the fire, because Paramount have really kept a lid on Star Trek: Into Darkness. The plot synopsis has been closely guarded and what information has been released is very broad and open to interpretation. Much has been made of the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch (this years Michael Fassbender with regard to his ubiquity) is playing an unspecified villain. Cue lots of Khan Noonien Singh and Gary Mitchell debates.

A further two minutes trailer will be available from next week and for those fortunate enough to be seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at an IMAX theatre, there’s a nine minute promo being show with that movie. The sheer volume of hype that accompanies these sort of movie these days really is becoming quite ridiculous. I wonder if it ultimately ends up simply exasperating the intended audience, who end up simply treating it as cinematic white noise? Such marketing certainly comes with a degree of pomposity. After all regardless of the budgets, these simply are only movies. However, it does seem somewhat redundant to chastise an industry that was built on excess for be so.

Star Trek: Into Darkness opens in theaters (regular and IMAX 3D) on May 17th, 2013.